Handheld gaming is more than a compromise of power and portability. Whether it’s the ability to play anywhere, multitask or hold an entire console in your hands, it’s a special experience consoles have never replicated. In a world where high resolutions and teraflops reign supreme, we take a look at a portable relic every month and reflect on what makes it memorable. Be warned, spoilers may occasionally populate these articles.
Aside from the recent three Blaster Master Zero games that were all released two years apart, Blaster Master has a history of sporadic release dates with almost no platform consistency. The games were also inconsistent in their quality. The original Blaster Master on the NES was great for its time, but many of the sequels felt lacking. Blaster Master: Enemy Below was a sequel released in the year 2000 for Game Boy Color. Purely speculative, but it seems the developers believed that the original Blaster Master was the best in the series and put great effort into recreating the magic that made the original successful.
For the uninitiated, Blaster Master games star protagonist Jason and his tank Sophia. The original Blaster Master had a brief intro movie that explains the plot which isn’t really addressed anywhere else outside of the instruction manual. Jason’s frog escapes, jumps down a hole and he discovers the tank and Blaster Master suit. Blaster Master: Enemy Below is just as plot heavy as the original. There’s an intro movie that shows some monstrosity breaking free inside of a mad scientist lab and smashing up some tubes. Jason apparently gets wind of this and once again dons the suit to take Sophia out for a spin. There may be more to the plot, but it doesn’t matter. Unlike modern games where the story is a huge part of most games, most titles in the ’80s just had a rudimentary story to explain why the player was killing the pixel representations of whatever. Blast Master: Enemy Below is that type of game.
With a name like Blaster Master one would assume that game involves blasting everything that moves, and this assumption isn’t far from the truth. The gameplay is split into two different parts. There’s a side-scrolling portion that involves platforming and an overhead one. During the platforming sections the player controls Sophia, the tank that has amazing jumping hydraulics and submersible features. Jason needs to occasionally exit Sophia to complete level objectives, though due to his fragility in regards to falling from high heights and damage from enemies, it’s recommended he only exit the tank for when he needs to enter the overhead portions. During the overhead portions Jason needs to navigate their labyrinthine areas and battle monsters and machines with his explosives and gun.
Fans of the original Blaster Master will be hit with a feeling of déjà vu when they start playing. Enemy Below reuses the music and visual assets of the original. The player even begins in the same area. Newcomers would be forgiven for thinking this is just a straight port of the original Blaster Master, but despite the heavy recycling of game, assets this is in fact its own original game.
The similarities are plentiful, but Enemy Below’s own identity quickly reveals itself. The level layouts are different and so are the boss fights. There are still several places for Jason to enter and go into overhead view mode, but unlike the original there’s an actual reason to explore them. Each of these areas is filled with life and power ups, and the level boss in hiding in one of these areas. Finding a key in one of these areas is required, so it’s advisable to search every area that is found in order to do so.
Blaster Master on the NES was a notoriously difficult game. Blaster Master: Enemy Below isn’t much more forgiving, but does make things a little easier for the player. The enemies don’t respond as quickly and aren’t as aggressive. Plus they’re more generous when it comes to dropping life-replenishing items. Like most of us mortals Jason only has one life to live, but unlike his NES days he has been gifted with unlimited continues and a password system, so completing the game and seeing the resolution to the non-existent story is much more realistic with the GBC sequel.
There are a few technical complaints with Enemy Below, and while they are sources of vexation, they don’t tarnish the experience in any significant way. Reusing the original soundtrack is great for a nostalgia fix, but unfortunately some of the tunes seem off, like the tempo isn’t quite right or notes have been shifted up or down. The visuals in the platforming sections look how I remember the original, but when it comes to the overhead portions, the new model for Jason doesn’t look good and some of the colors just aren’t as vibrant. Also in the NES original Jason could move diagonally, but it seems in the many years that have passed he has developed mobility issues with age as he can now only move in four directions. Sophia on the other hand can still leap to incredible heights and drive up walls and on the ceiling.
Despite the technical issues mentioned, after a few forgettable sequels Blaster Master: Enemy Below was a breath of fresh air for fans of the series. It successfully recreated everything that made the original such a memorable title. A perfect game it is not, but one that’s good enough where it should be played by anyone who enjoyed the original or just likes 8-bit retro games in general. Outside of finding a copy in the second-hand market, Blaster Master: Enemy Below is currently available on the Switch Online subscription service.
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